Catholic district hearing stories of student violence: Kelly

The Grande Prairie Catholic School District is hearing stories of student violence similar to those reported in the Grande Prairie Public School District (GPPSD), said Rhonda Kelly, president of Grande Prairie Catholic Local 42.

The DHT reported last week that more GPPSD kids are misbehaving at increasingly younger ages, becoming violent with their teachers and each other, according to Ray Buziak, president of Trumpeter Local No. 26. Teachers in the Catholic district are reporting the same thing, Kelly said.

“We’re hearing the stories from teachers that there’s lots of incidents being reported to our board office. I know that even across Alberta it’s happening.”

Kelly said more supports are needed for students with “complex needs.” Such students may have learning disabilities, medical needs or behaviour issues, such as a lack of self-restraint: “they need a little more support self-regulating.”

On top of the increasing complexity of classrooms, classes are also getting bigger. The average K-3 class in the Catholic district has grown about 20%, from 16.6 students in 2009/2010 to 20 in 2016/2017.

This has created frustration for teachers, students and parents, Kelly said.

“What I’m noticing is the complexities are increasing and the supports are decreasing, and our class sizes are increasing. So the whole environment is being affected.”

She said school districts need to hire more teachers and more mental health specialists.

“It’s clear that across the province students with complex needs are not being supported in our province.”

Superintendent Karl Germann did not respond to requests for comment by press time.

Various factors

In 2013, similar concerns from teachers across the province prompted the Alberta Teachers’ Association to form a panel, which produced the 2014 Report of the Blue Ribbon Panel on Inclusion in Alberta Schools. According to the report, available statistics support teachers’ anecdotal evidence about increasing classroom complexity.

Canada has seen a rise in rates of disabilities such as learning challenges, language delays, intellectual disabilities and behavioural disorders. One reason for this, the report says, could be the greatly increased survival rates of premature births; of babies born between 20 and 25 weeks of gestation, 80% have a moderate to severe disability.

The report also notes the rapid rise in the number of immigrants and temporary foreign workers in the province. The children of such families often don’t speak English as their mother tongue, and students from refugee backgrounds may suffer from “trauma and other conditions that require extra support to enable them to learn effectively.”

Further, the report notes that up to 20% of Canadian youth are affected by a mental illness or disorder, and 14.2% of children exhibit high levels of physical aggression, opposition or conduct disorders, according to the Canadian government.

The report also says “various agencies” have estimated 30% to 40% of children are “at risk.” These children are most concentrated in impoverished families, minority families and families not fluent in English.

Though not mentioned in the report, another factor is the rise of single-parent families, which are much more likely to be poor. Almost one in four Canadian children raised by a single mother live in a low-income household.

Further, living in a single parent family is a risk factor for juvenile delinquency for children between 6 and 12 years old, according to a Public Safety Canada report, “Families, Youth and Delinquency.” According to the 2016 census, 26% of Grande Prairie families are lone-parent, up from 25.8% in 2011.